PROFESSIONAL
WRITING SKILLS

Are you aware
that one of the most time-consuming, yet important tasks busy employees
have on their to-do lists is writing? E-mail inboxes are full of
messages requiring responses to be
sent out to those with equally
overflowing message centers. The quantity of time spent to write
letters, memos, proposals, and technical reports often exceeds the quality
of the resulting documents.

Professional
Writing Skills helps business and technical writers resolve two of their biggest written
communication challenges: how to write more effective documents
following a more efficient process. Participants report that the
quality of their documents increases while the quantity of time
needed to write them decreases, often by 1/3.

To help you
become more competent and confident when you write, this popular
two-day workshop (seminar) addresses the following topics:

Introduction
to Communication

Taking
the "Grr" out of Grammar

Superior
Style

Writing
Process

For additional
flexibility, those topics are offered with the following options:

All options
include the Comerford Consulting trademark: an educational experience
that is informative and interesting, even fun, as you learn the
following:

INTRODUCTION
TO COMMUNICATION:What are the two unbreakable rules
of writing?

An overview
of communication skills provides a starting point for the course. Analyzing
types of writing for various readers according to their personality
types allows you to maximize your pluses and minimize your minuses.
Also, you will learn about listening skills and how they relate
to written communication. Your image as a writer especially in the
final document is covered through proofreading practice. A true-false
quiz allows you to assess your overall communications I.Q.

TAKING THE
"GRR" OUT OF GRAMMAR:What are the three most serious grammar
errors to avoid?

Grammar and
punctuation rules are tools to help you communicate more clearly.
You will enjoy learning and working with practical rules that relate
to typical business writing. Some topics include subject-verb agreement,
verb tense, misplaced and dangling modifiers, parallel structure,
sentence structure, and pronoun case. Useful tips for mastering
commas, semicolons, and colons will
ease your way as you write and
edit.

The three components
of style include paragraphs, sentences, and words. You will learn
how to start and end your correspondence--and how not to--along
with the principles of unity, coherence, and development for middle
paragraphs. Writing varied and emphatic sentences guides your readers
smoothly through your message. When choosing your words, always
let Economy, Simplicity, and Precision be your
guide

WRITING PROCESS:Which stage of the writing process should take the
least time?

The three stages
of the writing process include pre-writing, writing, and re-writing.
You will practice ways to determine your purpose, meet audience
needs, discover your most comfortable method of writing, brainstorm
and mind-map to get your ideas on paper, write quick rough drafts,
and revise collaboratively. Also, you will receive models for planning
letters, memos, and reports. Finally, checklists help you evaluate
both your process and your product.

Learning to
write does not have to be painful and stressful; it can be both
informative and interesting as you perfect an efficient process
and create more effective products.